Jacks or Better

Jacks or Better is among the most popular variants and most widely played of the video poker games on the market. Players will enjoy immediate payoffs with hands sporting a pair of jacks or better. Among gaming aficionados, Jacks or Better is know as 9/6 Jacks or Better. The 9 is a reference to the payoff for a full house while the 6 is a reference to the payoff for a flush.

Jacks or Better in a nutshell

When playing games of video poker, players are gaming in a style similar to that of slots gaming. But there is one major difference: video poker involves elements of skill, strategy and decision making. That's because in video poker,players are dealt 5 cards on a computer screen and players need to decide which cards to hold and which cards to fold. Typically video poker games sport varying payouts depending on the rarity of the hand held. And with between 1and 5 coins per hand, there are massive paydays for players wagering on max bets.

Jacks or Better variants

Due to its widespread popularity, Jacks or Better comes in many exciting variants. These include multiple Jacks or Better Low Pay Games, all with max 5 coin bets for the Royal Flush Bonus:

9/5 Jacks or Better - The payout for making a Flush is reduced from 6 times a player's bet to 5 times the bet. All other payouts remain the same. The max payout is reduced to just over98.4%.

8/6 Jacks or Better - The payout for a Full House is reduced from 9 times the bet to 8 times the bet. All other payouts remain the same.  The max payout is reduced to just over 98.3%.

8/5 Jacks or Better - The payout for a Full House is reduced from 9 times the bet to 8 times the bet. The Flush payday is cut from 6 times to 5 times. All other payouts remain unchanged. The max payout is reduced to just over 97.3%.

7/5 Jacks or Better - The payout for a Full House is reduced from 9 times the bet to 7 times the bet. The Flush payday is cut from 6 times the bet to 5 times the bet. All other payouts remain unchanged.  The max payout is reduced to just over 96%.

6/5 Jacks or Better - The payout for a Full House is reduced from 9 times the bet to 6 times the bet. The Flush payday is cut from 6 times the bet to 5 times the bet. All other payouts remain unchanged.  The max payout is 95%.

Trivia

When played with perfect strategy, full-pay Jacks or Better (in theory) has a return of over 99%.

Jackpot payouts

When playing Jacks or Better there are some really generous payouts that increase dramatically based on the specific hand held:

• Jack's or Better pays even money
• 2 pair pays 2 to1
• 3 of a kind pays 3 to 1
• Straight pays 4 to 1
• Flush pays 6 to 1
• Full House pays 9 to1
• 4 of a kind pays 25 to1
• Straight Flush pays 50 to1
• Royal Flush 8 pays 100 to 1

Strategy and Tips

Because hitting a Royal Flush is such a rarity, its payout rate is immense. These are some important points to bear in mind:

• Know your Jacks or Better rules
• Always make the maximum bets to reap the maximum rewards
• Royal Flushes are rare, so be prepared to take a few hits before you nail one. The odds of nailing one of these are around 1 in every 40,000 hands.